Dominion waiting on approval for natural gas power station

Dominion Virginia Power has requested that the Virginia State Corporation Commission approve the construction of a 1,358 MW combined cycle, natural gas-fired power station to serve growing demand and replace aging coal-fired power stations.

Dominion's Brunswick County Power Station

The $1.3 billion Brunswick County Power Station is needed to replace more than 900 MW of coal-fired generation from the Chesapeake Energy Center and Yorktown Power Station, which will be retired by 2015, according to Dominion. More than 19,000 of additional megawatts of coal-fired generation will be retired from 2011 through 2019, with most retiring by the end of 2015.

The station will have an air-cooled condenser that reduces water consumption by more than 90 percent as compared to a water-based cooling tower. Dominion contends that the power station would have reduced system fuel expenses by an estimated $112 million had it been operating in 2011.

The Brunswick County Power Station is part of Dominion's strategy to meet an anticipated customer demand of 5,300 MW of new generation over the next 15 years. If approved, the power station would begin providing electricity by spring 2016.